Stephen Dodson Ramseur

Stephen Dodson Ramseur (31 May 1837-20 October 1864) was a Major-General of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was the youngest West Point graduate to be promoted to Major-General in the Confederate army, despite missing several major battles, and he was killed at the Battle of Cedar Creek in 1864.

Biography
Stephen Dodson Ramseur was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina in 1837, and he graduated from West Point in 1860. Ramseur was a supporter of secession from the beginning, joining an Alabama regiment of the Confederate States Army before his home state seceded. He was injured in a horse riding accident in 1861 and was put out of action until the spring of 1862, when he took command of a North Carolina infantry regiment in the Army of Northern Virginia. Ramseur's right arm was paralyzed by a bullet at Malvern Hill, and he was promoted to Brigadier-General on 1 November 1862 despite missing several battles. At the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville, Ramseur led a successful flank attack against the Union army, and his brigade suffered 50% losses. At the Battle of Gettysburg, his men led an assault on Oak Hill, and he would be wounded at The Wilderness in 1864. On 1 June 1864, he was promoted to Major-General, the youngest West Point graduate to become a Major-General in the Confederate army. Ramseur's division, along with the rest of Jubal Early's corps, was then deployed to the Shenandoah Valley to draw Union forces away from Petersburg, and he was unhorsed twice and wounded in the arm at the Battle of Cedar Creek on 19 October 1864. Ramseur was then struck through both lungs by a Union bullet, and he died at Union general Philip Sheridan's Meadow Mills, Virginia headquarters the next day.